For starters, be sure you understand these questions about your value stream (which we discussed a few weeks ago at our Systems Thinking workshop at Sustainable Brands):

Where is the money being made in your value stream?

Who’s harvesting it?

Where’s the sustainability impact—and opportunity?

Where are you leaking—instead of adding—value?

Where could someone else take value from you?

Where could you take value from them?

Where could you create more value together?

Where could you deliver more value to customers?

What would you need to know—and do—in order to do that?

With whom?

Why are these questions important? Because the leakage from your value stream is far, far larger than you think. Guaranteed. And the business opportunities that will open for you once you figure out how to identify and close those leaks is massive. Also guaranteed.